Mujde!

We covered a lot of ground the next day.  The surrounding mountains were getting bigger.  The trees were getting taller the river was getting narrower but it seemed to be moving faster.  And the fish were jumping higher.  When we reached a water fall in mid afternoon my father said, “This is it.”  It was a beautiful spot.  The falls were about 15 or 20 cubits high with a large pool about 25 cubits wide and some 70 cubits long.  A beaver had built a damn which help exaggerate the natural size of the basin.  There was a large clear dry platue on the eastern side (our side) of the river some 30 cubits removed with about 5 or so cubits elevation above the river.  Our camp would be close enough to see the pool but far enough away as not to disturb the sport.

There was enough time left in the day to set up camp, fish for dinner, and begin work on a raft that would float us out into the pool.  There would be little conversation this night; all men old and young fast asleep shortly after dark.  That is except for our sentry.  One of the adults stayed awake to keep the fire going and ward off any inquisitive nighttime visitors.

The next day was full of activity; fishing, building exploring, story telling, and eating.  Incidentally, I was wrong.  One of the men was an outstanding cook.  The Guslar prepared the fish in so many different ways on that trip that none got sick of eating it.  He had a bag of spices and refused to tell anyone what any of it was.  I didn’t care; I just ate it up.

After dinner and around the campfire we played a game of sorts.  The Guslar started the game; he called it Mujde.  Billaad’s uncles knew this word.  It was a word of the language of the people of Gomer.  The Guslar knew many of the languages.  Let me explain.  As I have said before after the confusion at the tower of Babel each tribe (sons of 2^nd generation patriarchs) spoke their own language.  The 2^nd generation patriarchs themselves, like Tiras and Gomer, together with Noah and his sons and all their wives spoke the first tongue.  The speakers of the first tongue can’t learn any of the new languages and none of the 3^rd generation and beyond can learn the first tongue.  However, people can learn the individual tribal languages across tribal boundaries.  This learning is difficult and some are more gifted than others but it can be done.  All three of the brothers, sons of Ashkenaz, learned our tribal language for example.  And, as we came to find out this night, the Guslar could speak many of them.  It seemed there was no end to his bag of tricks.

In any case, Mujde is the building of a story one sentence at a time.  The Guslar brought out a rock the size of a man’s fist.  But this was no ordinary stone.  It was what remained of a once larger crystal type structure that had been worked by chisel, sand, and polish so that it was smooth and shaped like the body of a fish, minus the tail fins.  The stone was to be tossed about those present at the fire.  Each time you held the stone you were to add one sentence to the story.  If you dropped the rock, then you were out and could contribute no more.  The crystal stone played with the light from the fire as it passed silently threw the air from man to man.  It would glow a changing assortment of colors and so was easily traced through the dark night of our forest camp.

We played a few rounds that night and the stories were whimsical nonsense but they brought laughter to the group.  One of the stories however seemed to have been put together with meaning.  Guslar held the stone to start and it went like this:

Guslar:  There once was a King, perfect and true.

Kimeril:  His subjects were many and his lands vast.

Brother1:  The power of this King was unsurpassed.

Guslar:  His great throne was white; his judgments were right.

Crill:  His laws were for good.

Kimeril:  But they were misunderstood.

Billaad:  There came one who lied.

Brother2:  He said the King was not fare; did not care.

Grip:  He said the law was a joke.

Billaad:  He said don’t you want to be happy?

Crill:  He said don’t get on your knees; do what you please.

Grip:  Sadly the people listened.

Kimeril:  They burned the King’s law.

Brother1:  They scorned his judgments.

Brother2:  They betrayed one another; sons, wives, brothers.

Kimeril:  It seemed all was lost and the kingdom rewend.

Guslar:  The King sent prophets to warn his subjects.

Crill:  They would not listen.

Guslar:  Chastening to instruct the people.

Billaad:  They would not be corrected.

Grip:  Were the people and kingdom so cherished by the King lost to the destruction of their own selfish ways?

At this point grip tosses the stone to Kimeril.  It is a poor toss however and my dad can only get his finger tips on it and the stone is deflected right into the lap of Tiras.  He has been sitting with us around the fire most of the evening and all during this story.  It had been as unspoken rule that we would not toss the stone to him as he could not add a sentence to the tale and so doing would only bring him embarrassment.  His quick reflexes reacted to the errant object and he snatched it cleanly form the air with one hand before, I am sure, he knew what he was doing.

Everyone was silent now.  The pause lasted so long.  Billaad and I looked at one another, gave our shoulders a slight shrug and made faces as it to say; what can he do?  The other men made blank stairs at the ground, the fire or each other in an effort to escape the discomfort of the situation; all except Kimeril.  He gazed into Tiras’s eyes with a hopeful expectation.  His mouth hung slightly open and there was a hint of a smile on his mouth.  I can remember thinking:  “What is he waiting for?  Does he actually think he is going to say something?”

It was a long time.  Tiras would look at the rock in his hand and then at the men.  He did this a few times.  I wanted the Guslar to say something funny or break into some delivery that would end this awkwardness.  I mean would we not speak again that night?  Finally the Guslar shifted in his seat and opened his mouth to speak; but, at that very moment with my dad’s expectant eyes still on him Tiras burst to a standing position with his eyes lifted up above us to the canopy of tree limbs and beyond.  Then he pointed with up stretched arm and extended finger as he lowered his gaze upon us at the fire.  H started to speak.  But it was not the grunts and stammer of a futile attempt to use our language.  It was a fluent lament uttered in verse unrecognizable to us all, even the Guslar.  It must have been first tongue.  I had never heard anyone speak it before.  It had a beautiful sound to it; kind a rhythmical.

Anyway Tiras went on for a bit, still pointing up while looking at us.  Then he spoke for a while pointing up while looking at the rock in the other hand.  Then he spoke with a kind of thunder in his voice as he brought his raised hand down and pointed at the rock.  He then spoke softly as he cupped the rock in both hands and peered into its shape.  He then spoke with anger in his voice and tears in his eyes as he continued to hold the cupped rock in his hand yet lifting it up a bit.  He stared each of us down during this part of his display.  The final part of his speech was softer but still tearful.  He walked over to the fire and as he closed he lower the stone and then dropped it in the fire.

Tiras walked a ways off from the fire and the men and it was quiet again.  Kimeril then got up and walked over and put his arm around his father.  As we watched the crystal now in the fire glow a dark red, Billaad announced: “Now that was defiantly more than one sentence.”  His statement and the quiet laughter that fallowed relieved the tension and the evening broke up into small talk, prayer, and good nights.  I could here Tiras and Kimeril humming the tune to the bedtime song my dad sang to me as a kid.  I determined to ask him about that in the morning.

The next day it rained.  It was a pretty stiff rain too.  Now I like fishing, but not in the rain.  Most of the men were undaunted.  They all spent at least part of the day angling for a catch.

Billaad and I spent the day in the tented shelters we had constructed for just such an occasion.  We did not get a lot of rain but this was the season for it.  Fortunate for our quest to understand the flood, the Guslar spent most of the day in the shelter as well.  We went over to him as he sat working intently on some small object he was constructing out of this and that.

“What are you doing?”  Asked Billaad.  “I am making a lure to help catch the fish.”  Responded the Guslar.  “What’s a lure?”  “Well it is supposed to look like an insect that has fallen in the water.”  “Oh I get it.  It attracts the fish so you can catch them.”  “Correct young Billaad.  You are an intelligent boy.”

“Crill.  What is it you are pondering?  The Guslar noticed I was looking out into the rain as it fell steadily.  “I am wondering sir if this is the type of rain that flooded the earth when Noah built the ark.  It is coming down pretty hard.”  “The rain of the flood was a good bit harder yet but most of the water came when vast underground caverns full of water burst open.  Much of the surface of the earth crumbled and the waters prevailed over it.  It rained for forty days but the water prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.”  “How do you know all this; even the number of days?”  Billaad was somewhat skeptical.  “I’ve spoken with Noah himself on the subject.  He told me these things and more.”  “You talked to Noah?”  Now I was skeptical.  “Nobody around here has even seen Noah since before the big confusion.  Anyway he speaks the first tongue like Tiras.  How could you understand him?”

“I knew Noah before the great confusion; before the tower.  I knew him on the journey from the ark.  My name is Elam, first born of Shem, eldest son of Noah.  Noah spoke these things to me as we sojourned from the ark.”  “Did you ever see the ark?”  I asked.  “No, my first memories are of the highlands [name] above the great plain of the two rivers.”  “Let’s get back to the water.  You say it prevailed 15 cubits above the tallest mountains.  My uncles say that there are mountains where they are from that touch the sky.  How could the water have been that high?”  “Remember now Billaad, the mountains that exist now did not exist before the flood.  In fact, most of the mountains your uncles are talking about did not even exist until recently.  When I lived on the highlands as a small boy the mountains were nothing like they were on the journey through them after the great confusion.  They must have formed between the end of the flood and the confusion.”  “How did they form?”  “That; I can’t tell you.  All I can tell you is that they formed sometime in my lifetime.”

“What happened to all the water?”  Billaad said unrelentingly.  “Where do you suppose it went Billaad?”  The Guslar sat back pausing in his work on the lure and put one hand on his knee and turned his head to one side.  “I don’t know!”  Snapped Billaad.  “I don’t even know that it was ever here.  You’re the one saying there was so much water.  All I am asking is: If it was here and covered everything by 15 cubits, then where did it go?  Did it just disappear?”  One of Billaad’s uncles was in from the rain and overheard Billaad’s complaints.  “Billaad!”  He scolded.  “you show respect when talking to your elders.”  “I am sorry Mr. Guslar.  I did not mean to be disrespectful.  It is only that I hear all these different stories about who God is, where we came from, and how the world was formed.  I get frustrated.  I don’t know what to believe.  I want to believe what you say about God and the flood but the part about all this water makes no sense to me.”  “I forgive you Billaad.”  The Guslar put his fist on his heart as he responded.

“Maybe the water went back into the caverns after the 150 days?”  I posed.  “Could be Crill, but the men who were there said that the water burst out of the caverns.  This describes destructive forces over most of the surface of the earth.  Say you take a bottle from your mom’s kitchen and fill it with water.  If you pour the water out in to a large basin, then the water can be drained back it; but, if you burst the bottle open, then the water would explode out and the bottle would be destroyed; broken into pieces.  Instead of draining back into the bottle the water would prevail over the broken pieces of the bottle in the basin.”  “But that leaves us back to not having anywhere for the water to go.”  Billaad moaned discouraged.

“What if it is still here?”  Uncle interjected.  “Interesting, what makes you say that uncle?”  “Well, look out side.”  He said.  “There is quite a bit of water coming down from the clouds.  How much is up there I wonder?”  “This is a good point.  Some, we don’t know how much, is in the clouds.”  “The Sea of Ashkenaz holds a lot of water.”  I added.  “Yes, and how many seas are there in the world and how big are they?”  “We don’t know any of that?”  Billaad protested.  “True but we do know that the Sea of Ashkenaz is not the only one and it is not the biggest.  Both the Great Sea and the Caspian are much larger.”  “Well then, if the water from the flood is in the seas then these low places must not have existed at the time of the flood.”  Uncle concluded.  “Correct!  And, since the low places must have formed after the flood and the mountains formed also after the flood, then they must have formed at he same time and perhaps as a result of the same set of forces.” The Guslar was very exited now.

All of a sudden an idea came to me and I became exited with the Guslar.  “Hey, each spring when I get a new matrass it is flat.  The first few nights I notice that when I lie down on it some spots squish down easy and some squish down with more difficulty.  Suppose after the flood the earth was like that and the water went to the places that squished down easy; would not that make the low places we see now in the seas?”

“Great idea Crill!  I believe it would.  Now, as you make the low place in your mattress, what happens to the rest of the mattress?”  “It raises up.”  “Yes, so at the end of the flood the earth squished down more in some spots.  The water rushed to those spots making the seas.  At the same time the earth’s surface was pushed up in other spots making the mountains.  This must have been going on for the rest of the year that Noah was on the ark.  This would have make the highlands of Ararat and the sea of Askenaz.”

“It could have gone on a long time afterward too.  It could have made deeper seas and the mountains that touch the sky.”  I added.  Billaad was just staring down at the ground playing with his lips with the tips of his fingers.  “Did you have any other questions Billaad?”  Asked the Gusler.  “No…, no not right now.”  “I have one.”  “What is it Crill?”  “What did you make of the end of the story that Tiras gave last night?”  We all had a bit of a snicker on our face with that question.  Billaad could not help himself and let out a gafaa.

“It’s hard to say Crill.  It seems to me, based on his gestures, that the King himself came down from his thrown and made some sort of ultimate sacrifice so that the people would be saved from themselves.  But that is just a guess.”  “But he could not have even known what the story was about.”  “He should not have been able to I agree.  But it seemed like he did.  Hey, by the way, have a look at this.”  The Guslar had dragged the crystal out of the embers with a long stick and washed it off.  It was white as snow.  All the varied discolorations were gone and it was solid white.  “What happened to it!”  I exclaimed.  “I don’t know Crill, but passing through the fire seems to have completely changed the stone.”  Responded the Guslar.

What About the Ark?

Billaad and I slept long and hard that night.  When we woke up we were surprised to find that the men had decided we all would stay a whole day at this sight.  We would rest and fish and give the horses a break.  One of them seemed a bit lame.  Grip thought a day would help it recover.  It’s funny.  With all Grip knew and could figure out you might pick him to be your leader.  But as smart as he was, decision time was never a comfortable moment for him.  In fact it was always more then a moment.  He was one to analyze analyze and analyze and never act.  My dad was a man of action.  Grip would say: That’s the kind of man you need as a leader; the one who can decide.

After breakfast Billaad and I found Grip mixing a bunch of barriers together with a stick.  He had a feather and an old piece of animal hide as well.  “What are you doing Grip?”  Billaad asked as he set down on the ground next to Grip who was sitting against a tree.  “Well, I am trying to devise a system of characters we could use to represent the words we use as we speak to each other.”  “Why?”  I asked.  “Suppose you want to tell your uncle Macedon something; something that is important and complicated.  It needs explaining.  But, you can’t go and see him; for whatever reason.  If you could record your words using these characters painted in these colored barriers on this animal skin, then you could send the skin with the message to your uncle and he would then know the important thing.”  “Couldn’t Crill just tell me and then I could go and tell Macedon?”  “Sure but you might not remember it right.  This is a complicated message and even one item out of place would destroy its meaning.”  “What if Macedon came to me?”  “Macedon is very busy what with leading his village and all.  Do you think he has the time to travel all the way here to receive the message?”  Kimeril leads a village and we are all having a swell time tromping around the woods with him and we are not looking for anything; except fish.  But we have those at our village?”  Billaad had a way of rambling on.  “If it takes so much time to lead a village how can Kimeril take days to look for something we already have at our village?”

“Ok, ok, how about I put away the barriers and hide and you guys tell me what you are up to?”  Grip rubbed his scalp back and forth with both hands as he spoke these words and then stowed his work.  I can only guess that we convinced him his new invention was unnecessary.

Billaad then just spit it out: “We want to know how Noah got all the animals onto one boat.”  “Why?  Do you think that is a huge problem for God?”  We looked at each other for a moment and then turned back to Grip and spoke in unison: “Yea, there are a lot of different kinds of animals.”  Then Grip asked some things we had not thought to ask.  “”So, are you telling me that the God who created all the kinds of animals would not know to tell Noah and his sons to build a boat big enough to hold two of each kind?”  Before we could respond he continued.

How big was the boat?  How many kinds are there?  How much room does each kind require?  How big were the ones he took, I mean did he take baby animals, young animals, or adult animals?  How much food do they need to survive?  How long were they on the ark?

I jumped in here: “The Guslar said they were on the ark for over a year!”  “Alright, good, can you answer any of the other questions?”  We could not.  “Ok then before we can conclude this as a huge problem for God, let’s get an idea of what sort of problem we have here.  Then we will see if God, the Almighty, could have handled it.”

Grip began:

The account of the flood and the ark as I heard from my father and he from his tells us that the ark was as tall as one of these very large trees or 30 cubits.  It was 50 cubits high and 300 cubits long.  So, if the ark were the shape of a box then its volume or amount of space it took up, would have been 450,000 cubic cubits.  But of course, the ark was probably not in the shape of a box.  The sides would have been curved and the ends tapered at least to some degree.  Also, they would have lost some space due to the inner construction of floors, it had three levels, walls, and supports.  We will have to make a guess at how much space in the boat was lost due to these factors.  Let’s say that they lost a third of the total rectangular volume due to the factors mentioned.  So, now they have 300,000 cubic cubits.  How much is that?  Well, that would be box 67 cubits high, 67 cubits wide, and 67 cubits long.  Yea, that’s kinda big.

Tiras told your dad, before the tower mind you, that there were about 12,000 kinds of animals on the ark.  Now, it might seem that there might be more than that; just think about how many different types of birds there are.  But, there all birds right?  Of course they are all birds.  Some of the types of birds are very similar.  Some are quite different.  I think we can all agree that some of the different types are the same “kind”, say ducks and some of the different types might in fact be different kinds of animals.  With this in mind, 12,000 kinds seems reasonable.

This would give the average pair of animals a space of 25 cubic cubits.  Now, if we allow 5 of those to store food, water, and hay for the pair, then the average pair would get a space that was 2x2.5x4.  If we take a ram and a ewe as the average pair, this space seems ample for their needs.

“Wait a minute!”; Billaad had a question.  “Five cubic cubits does not seem like enough to store enough food and water to last a year for two animals.  I think that is a problem.”  “Billaad, do you see bear during the season of white?”  This question was Grip’s retort.  “Well, no, not really, maybe once in a great while.  What does ..”  Grip jumped back in here with: “Where are they then in the season of white?”  Billaad replied, “Well, my dad told me that they go into a cave and go into a deep sleep for long periods of time because there isn’t enough food during that time.”  “Did you know that all animals are capable of these long periods of deep sleep?”  Grip really seemed to be enjoying the back and forth.  “No, really?  All animals?”  Billaad was starting to see where Grip was going with his questions.  “Yes boys, and that is just what the animals on the ark did.  They went into a deep sleep for long periods of time during the year on the ark.  They were in dark cozy spaces and they just slept the time away.  They did not need much to eat or drink.  They did not need much care at all.

“So, you can see that the size of the boat described by the Guslar, the number of kinds of animals that exist and the amount of food needed for the reported time all lead us to conclude that the ark was big enough for the job assigned to it.  Really not a problem at all for the Creator.”

“Ok, but, how did Noah get all the kinds to the ark?”  “Why?  Do you think that is a huge problem for God?”  Grip was having some fun with us now.  “How long was it after Noah was warned that the flood occurred?  Would animals have been afraid and run from Noah and his sons?  Has God no say over the affairs of His creation?”  “We don’t know these things; that is why we ask?”

“Let me ask you:  Do you like watermelons?”  Grip queried.  “Yes.”  Was our reply.  “Well, how do you get watermelons?”  “They grow in the garden.”  “How did you get the plants in the garden?”  “We planted a seed.”  “Is that all?  How does the seed grow into the plant and how does the plant grow the melon?”  We did not know.  “Do you think it is easier for God to get a couple animals in a boat or to grow melons from a seed?”  “Animals in a boat I guess.”  I said.  “But the melon from a seed is natural.  It happens all the time.  How often do you see a deer just walk into a boat because some old guy with a beard tells it to?”  “Yea, my dad said that God put the fear and dread of man into the animals.  They would run away from Noah and the boat not go into it.”

“You both are correct.  Suppose, “… And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.  Of fowls after their dind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.” It is not now the design of God that animals would just go into the ark at the beckoning of man.  Now they would have to be trapped or trained to do such a thing.  Crill when did your dad say that God put the dread of man in the heart of the animals?”  “He did not say.”  “Well, what did the Guslar say was the relationship between animals and man before the flood?”  “He said they were at peace.”  “Would we have been at peace if man was going around killing and eating animals?  Would they dread us if there was peace?”  “No, I guess not.”  “It was after the flood that God gave the animals as meat to us.  That is why they dread us now.  That is why we would have to work hard to get them in a boat now.  But before the flood, when there was peace between man and animals it would have been nothing for Noah to get them in the boat.  It would have been as natural as planting a seed in the garden, watering it, taking care of it, and watching it grow.  In fact Noah probably just watched the animals go on the ark and then tended to their needs.”

“Wow, when you put it like that it sounds so easy.”  Billaad proclaimed.  “I don’t know about easy.  Noah and his family had to tend to many animals for over a year.  I would not say easy.  But I would say that, with God’s provision, it was not a huge problem.”

“There you guys are!”  My father had approached us from the river.  “I have been looking for you; it’s time to fish.  Who’s ready?”  Billaad and I sprang up with excitement as we both shouted; “I am!”  And, we ran down to the river.

That night after dinner we packed up our gear so that all we had to do in the morning was roll up our beds, have a bite for breakfast and load up the horses before we headed up river again deeper into the forest.  It was a great night under the stars.  We could see them through the gap in the canopy made by the breadth of the river.  My roll was next to my dad’s.  Billaad’s was in between his uncles’.  My dad and I talked for some time before I fell asleep.  We talked about the stars.  We talked about the trip.  He even admitted that the Guslar and Grip were probably right about the flood.  We talked about grandpa.  I had not realized before that night how much my dad respected and admired his dad.  He said that if it had not been for Tiras many more would have died at the Istranca Daglar.

I could not get any more details about the Istranca Daglar that night.  None of them would ever talk about it.  All I ever found out was that Billaad’s grandfather Ashkenaz betrayed our whole family and his own three sons that went with us.  We talked about mom and my baby brother Nike.  To hear my dad talk it’s as though Nike thinks more of me than anyone else in the world.  I don’t know about that but we do have good times together.  I told my dad that I loved him and mom and Nike and our whole family.  And then I told my dad that I loved him again and I thanked him for taking me on the fishing trip.  He did not have to you know.  I am sure it would have been an easier more relaxing trip without a 12-year-old kid to worry about.  He told me he loved me.  He told me that having me with him was the best part of the trip and he would not even have wanted to go without me.  But he also told me that there was one who loved me more than he did.  I asked him who that was.  He said that father God loved me more than any human could and that I should always trust in and look to Him in good times and in troubles.  We prayed together.  We both cried a little too but it was ok; everyone else was asleep.

Gone Fishing

One day Tiras, Kimeril, Grip, Billaad’s two uncles, Billaad, and the Guslar all went up river on a fishing expedition.  Here we, my cousin and I, thought to have a perfect opportunity to probe both Grip and the Guslar for specific details regarding our concerns.  Our journey began with praises to God for the opportunity and the good word we had received from Macedon’s village that Macedon and the village itself were all healing well and on the way to full recovery.  It was requested that God would accompany us giving His protection and guidance.

The plan was to walk two days up stream, find a nice location and camp for four or five days before returning home.  The master mind of the whole operation was Grip.  He had noticed that my father had been under a great deal of strain as of late what with the continued building and now the added burden of organizing defenses.  He believed that a few days away from these projects, which were well in hand, would do my father good.

Grip sold the trip to my dad under the gize that it would be a good reconnaissance mission in order to know more about our northern boundary.  “As long as we are thinking of defense; we might as well begin to map out these surroundings north.

We started out early on a beautiful summer morning.  My mom was smiling and would not stop fussing with my hair and clothes as we said our farewells.  Be sure to do this and oh don’t do that and “Oh my goodness do you have the medicine balm I made for you?” “Do you mean the stuff that reeks?  Yes, I have it.”  She was very excited but also she seemed nervous.  There were even a few tears rolling down her face.  I said to her; “Are you going to be alright Mom?”  “Yes don’t worry about me.  I will be fine.  I am going to miss you a lot.”  She answered with more smiles and wiping away the tears from her eyes.  “Not as much as I mill miss you.  I don’t think any of these tough guys know how to cook.”  My comment was met by a great swell of laughter from the large group of people who had gathered to see us off.  My mom then kissed my forehead and said “I am so proud of you my little man.  Go and show these old farts a thing or two about fishing.”  “I love you mom.”  “I love you too Crill!”  “I will see you in a few days mom.”  “I will be here son.”

We walked steady all that first day.  The surroundings were pretty familiar to the men but Billaad and I tried to take it all in.  We had spent our whole lives just a stones throw from the sea.  So, many of the sights and sounds that surrounded us were new and it was very exciting.

Although it was a warm sunny day the dense canopy of the thick forest so hindered the light as do the thick dark clouds of the storm.  We could see well enough of our immediate surroundings, a hundred cubits [adjust distance] or so round about but further than that the shadows prevailed and the forest took on a dark and mysterious character.  This was enough to motivate Billaad and I to keep up with the pace of the men without having to be told.  The air was cool at the forest floor.  It was like the leaves and pines were soaking up the heat of the sun like the bread soaks up the milk when poured over it.  I think that if we would not have been exerting ourselves so, it would have been down right chilly.  Never did we separate ourselves so far from the river that we could not hear its waters against the rocks.

We saw many different animals that first day.  Some were familiar to us, the dear, the fox, the bear.  Some were not so familiar.  Some were mere shadows visible only for a moment before darting back into the depth of the concealing forest at the boundary of our field of view.  I must admit to you that I was a little frightened by these aberrations dancing in and out of the edge of darkness.  The men did not seem to be worried at all.

My dad could see that I was a little nervous.  He came over and walked alongside me.  He said; “What troubles you Crill?”  I said, “Well every once and a while I notice something moving about into the dark perimeter around us.  What sorts of things are out there, out there in the dark?”  “Look Crill, there are many animals in the forest.  What always happens when we come up upon them?”  “They move off.”  I replied.  “Some of them are very big, like the bear, why do they move off?”  “They fear us and they dread us.”  “Why?”  “God put it in their heart.  They fear us because they know we have dominion over them; we are superior.  They have respect for our God given position in creation.  They dread us because they have been given to us by God as meat.  This combination of respect for our capabilities and despair over our motives drives them away.”  “But they don’t always run off.  Sometimes they attach and kill us.”  I raised my hands with fingers out like claws and fained a lunge at my dad with this comment.  “Yes son, but again, this is due to fear and dread.  When the animal feels threatened and cornered they can lash out.  That is why we move slowly and deliberately through the forest.  And that is why we move loudly.  We want them to know we are here, what direction we are heading, and at what speed.  This way they won’t feel the need to fight us; they will simply get out of the way.  That is what you are seeing in the shadows; the animals getting out of our way.”

“What if they did want to attach?  How would I know?  What should I do?”  “Well, watch the horses and listen for the dogs.”  We had a number of horses with us carrying supplies and Billaad’s dog and Grip’s dog?  “If the horses are getting uneasy and the dogs start to snarl, then trouble is a foot.  You should get close to me and fast as you can.  We have brought the sward and bow to protect us in case of attach.  Do you understand?”  “Yes dad.”  “Good.”

Late in the day and on one of our water breaks near the riverbank, Grip suggested we make camp for the night.  “This looks like a good spot and it will take some time to set up.”  Grip always made sense.  We worked hard to set up our camp and build the fire.  My dad, Ballad and I were in charge of catching diner.  While the others finished the camp, we fished a nearby hole with the five-pronged spear.  We first suspended the firebox over the surface of the water to draw the fish and then my dad thrust the spear into the water in an attempt to impale the fish on one of the prongs.  If we did not catch anything it would be cured meat and dried veggies [word] for diner.  The three of us met with limited but sufficient success; six fish.  It was a good day and a great night around the fire.  Billaad and I were with the men sitting around the fire eating the fish we caught and listening to the stories of yesterday.  We could not have been happier.

Hit Your Knees

When we got back it was pretty late. I had to rush to finish chores and we wolfed down the evening meal in order to head straight to the bon fire to hear the Guslar’s song. When we got there it was already time to start. They waited for us. They would not start without my dad. My uncles were there and a soft music filled the background. The Guslar opened that evening’s song with a genealogy:
Adam God formed from the dust
begat Seth for Abel slain unjust
begat Enos men began to call
begat Cainan o the Lord’s name, save from the fall
begat Megalaleel born 395
begat Jared who’s son was taken alive
begat Enoch walked with God
begat Mehtuseluh by water saw the rod
begat Lamech perfect number of his years
begat Noah this same to comfort tears
begat Jepheth whom God shall enlarge
begat Tiras prince of Shinar
begat Rushash, Nbenib, Macedon, Kimeril, …
begat Crill, Nikelus, Thracian, …

It was fun hearing my name as part of the song. Billaad looked over at me with mouth and eyes open wide. And we both laughed in surprise. The next part of the song was very interesting; scary even. The Guslar started to give specific details about the flood, the ark, and how it was built. Here is his report as best I can recall it.

Guslar:

The earth of ancient times was mostly green. The whole of it was covered by every kind of fruit bearing tree, seed bearing plant, and all of the good green vegetation of the creation. Food was abundant. Although it was not easily garnished after the fall for thorn and thistle were a constant hindrance to man. Only by hard work and terry (sweet of thy face) was it procured. There were many small seas and lakes and God had not caused it to rain upon the earth; but, there went up a mist from the earth and it watered the whole face of the ground. There were no great mountains as in the land of Ararat today.

There were rivers but these sprang from the earth; they were parted by the higher regions such as the land of Havilah, Ethiopia, and Assyria; their constant flow would run its set course over the land and then return to the caverns of the deep. These were great underground store houses of water. For God had proclaimed:

“The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. For I have founded it upon the seas and established it upon the floods. Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in His Holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing form the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.”

The animals had no fear of man as the herbs of the field and the fruit of the vine were given to man as food.

It was at this time a league of angles fell from God’s presence. The one named Lucifer and his minions had lifted themselves up saying “I will be like the most High!” These sons of God were cast out of heaven where they refused their proper domain. They saw the beauty of the daughters of men. So, they took them of all that they choose. And these same bore children to them, who became mighty men, which were of old, men of renown. And the Lord said; “My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh; yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.” And the Lord said; “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.

There was a man named Noah. He was just and perfect in his generations. And Noah walked with God. And God said:

"And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it. And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die. But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee. And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive. And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them. Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he. And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation."

As you can imagine Noah and his family met with a great deal of ridicule hurled at them by the people living at that time. You see no one else had had the visitation from God that Noah had had. No one else received the warning of a great deluge. It had never rained and the great fountains of the deep were hidden from man’s detection.

In the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark. And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away.

“What of peril that awaits us?” This came from the crowd; some ways behind where my family was sitting. It was load enough that the Guslar heard it but there was no disturbance in the audience griped by the orators song. The Guslar continued; “And then it happened: the fountains of the deep broke open at once and across the whole world. The very ground they walked on was cracked , crumbled and then consumed by the water below it. Invaded from below by the explosive water itself the whole surface of the earth was becoming submerged; lost in an angry sea. If this were not enough the waters attach quickly came on another front. It began to rain down from heaven not in a mild mist as it had since creation but in torrents of wind driven pellets of water.”

“What of the impending attach on our village from the water? Why do we listen to fanciful stories of floods when a real menace awaits us from the eastern sea?” This time the interruption was loader and the Guslar’s hold on us was broken by these fearful utterings.

“Well friend, what fear has gripped you so that you would break into our meeting?” The Guslar stepped closer to the front of the stage, lowered his posture and held out his hands in front of himself as he said these words. He looked to the back of the gathering for a response, as did many others. It was not at all clear who had spoken.

There being no answer to the Guslar’s invitation, my father rose and walked calmly to the stage. This brought a low but steady murmur to the crowd. After a few short words in private to the Guslar my dad turned to the audience and raised up his hands as to quiet them. They responded well and he began to speak.

“As many of you know two of my brothers, Rushash and Benib, have made the journey to us from Macedon’s village. They have come to us with disparaging news. The people of Magog have attached BUT not destroyed the village. Macedon, while injured, LIVES! The details of this attach I will allow my brothers to speak to so as there will be no question of authenticity. I will also take this opportunity to share that we have found some disturbing tracks along the nearby shorelines, which we continue to investigate.

I want everyone to know that we have begun to and will continue to make every preparation for a possible attach from the people of Magog. We can make weapons and plans but I tell you the truth: On our own we are no match for Gog.”

Someone shouts, “To whom can we appeal? You say yourself that Macedone has already been weakened and no other city is so close, so strong, and so loyal to give us aid. From what tribe do you suggest we seek aid?”

Another shoots out: “What if we appeal to Gog himself? Perhaps he would be appeased by an offer of tribute?” Another still: “You coward! Surrender our daughters so the likes of you would be saved? I will have none of that talk.” I’m guessing this last contributor was Tuskin.

“FRIENDS!” My father now puts a stop to all the emotional outbursts. “We have just been reminded of the awesome power of our God. The Guslar has also reminded us of the mercy and love with which God can act on behalf of His favored ones. Since we have no intension of surrendering one coin, one cubit, nor one child to Gog and we understand we have not the physical resources to repel him, then we must fall to our knees and ask for God’s hand to prevail. We must humble ourselves before a Holy God not only tonight but also in the days, weeks, and months ahead. We must decide to live for Him in each second He gives us or die apart from Him. Gog is only one of many fearsome trials that lay ahead for this village. These tails of the Guslar’s are not mere fanciful rhyme; they are the truthful record of our only hope in this world of danger. I want you all to join me now as we pray and honor our loving creator.”

My dad then fell to his knees, lowered his chin to his chest, lifted his hands and began to pray. At first it was just a few but by the time he had finished the entire town was on their knees. After he closed we all got up and my dad said to the town; “Thank you. Thank you for joining with me in praise of our Father. Now, before we sing the song of thanks the Guslar taught us; does anyone have any Good News to share that might help us sleep a little better tonight?”

There was a pause and it looked like his request would go unanswered when Billaad raised his voice and said, “I do!” This was met with some murmurs and a good bit of muffled laughter from the crowd but my father walked over to him and got down on one knee looked him in the face and said; “What is it Billaad?” “We saw them leaving.” “What’s that? You saw who leaving?” “Crill and I, we saw Gog and his men hightailing it back to the east out on the sea just today.” My dad turned and looked at me, some 5 cubits away. I gestured my concurrence. I said out loud, “Sails with a great hawk on them.”

“That’s it.” Said the Guslar. “The marauders have a great hawk embroidered on the main sail of there small but fast attach boats.” The Guslar’s confirmation sent a buzz of excitement through the crowd. My dad sent us all back to our homes with these words: “This is good news but remember to continue to call upon the Lord to be with us where the threat of the Magog continues.”

In the days that followed spirits were high among the people in my village. Long houses continued to be constructed. Crops were still cultivated. Fishing nets were still cast. And, children continued to do their chores. The Guslar stayed on and continued to treat us with his rhymes once every few nights.

In addition to our normal activities preparations were made to defend our village against attach. Also, meetings were regularly organized to gather at the alter of God and pray for His divine intervention and protection form Gog. Not only that but the villagers began to pray that God would help us with all sorts of burdens and troubles. There was even talk of our little settlement being dedicated in service to Him. It was almost like the threat of Gog had brought us all closer to each other and closer to God at the same time. However, the particulars of the flood continued to bother Billaad and me.

Face Stone

The next morning I noticed that my eyes were very heavy. Every so often I would become aware of all the clamor about the village and indeed present in the interior of our long house. However, it was not until the sun was high enough in the sky to cast a direct beam through the slat window and onto my face that I was finally able to crank them open and great the day.

As I lay on my back on the top bunk reasoning that I had been aloud to sleep past my time because of the commotion and late hour of the previous day, I noticed on the ceiling of the boys’ dorm a large brown spider. She was attending to her clutch of eggs. The sight pleased me as it meant more allies in our endless battle of the bugs.

My wandering thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Billaad’s voice as he made inquiry of me to my mother. He was anxious to see me and I was eager to hear more of his discussions with the old man Tiras. Now when I say old take causion not to eggagerate the implication. The physical appearance and condition of our grandfather, although he had been living far longer then any other living soul we knew or had encountered, was comparable to my fathers. So much so that a stranger might even mistake Kimeril as the older brother of the two [you must settle this old issue].

Mother came into my room to announce Billaad’s arrival. Before she could utter a word I jetted past her with a quick “hi mom!” and was half way down the hall before she could reply “Well good morning Crill; be back for dinner!”

I met my cousin in the great room with a brisk “Let’s go!” We were out the door and on our way to the lake before anyone could hinder us. “We got company.” “At your house?” “Yea.” “I know.” “How do you know?” “They were over last night.” “Our uncles?” “Yea, and Grandpa and the Guslar too.” “What happened? What did they say?” “I don’t know.” “What! You don’t know! You don’t know! What were you doing; playing blocks with the little kids?” “Not blocks, we were pretending to live on the ark during the great flood that the Guslar told us of in his stories.” “Yea but don’t you care what they said?” “Sure I care, but I had no choice. I was not allowed near them.” “Yea, I understand but darn it all.”

We were at the lake now. The Sea of Ashkenaz was so big and so beautiful. It looked like the land just stopped for as far as we could see to the left and to the right of us; and the water just went on forever. My dad said that the land surrounded the water and that we had walked around part of its shore to build Macedon’s village and then walked more of its shore to come to ours. I asked him how he knew that we were walking around a lake surrounded by land and not say on land surrounded by water. He said it was on account of the sun and where it rose and were it set.

My dad was smart. He also told me the whole world was round like a ball. To be honest, I never really got that because it sure looked flat and how would the water stay on it if it were round. He had answers for all my questions but it was still a hard one to get. He told me that I can know the world is round because God said it:

“Have ye not known? Have ye not heard? Hath it not been told you from the beginning? Have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is I that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in: That bringeth the princes to nothing; I maketh the judges of the earth as vanity. Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and I shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble. To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal?” Saith the Holy One.

I asked him how he knew God said all that. He said that his father Tiras told him when he was a boy. I asked him how Tiras knew. He told me that his father Jepheth told him when Tiras was a boy. I asked him how Jepheth knew. He told me that Jepheth’s father Noah told him. When I asked him how Noah knew Kimeril just told me plain; “Noah talks directly with God.”

Billaad and I arrived at the “face-stone”. It was actually a large bolder somewhat buried in the sand and the one side of it resembled the profile of a face. The two of us would often come here for serious private discussions on important matters, like the proper techniques of spitting or belching. Also, we would talk about our families, lives, and feelings about stuff. This was a place where we were totally truthful and forthcoming on whatever topic was on our hearts, face to face.

We choose the customary footholds as we scaled the large rock (10 cubits high). Being the older, I was the first to ascend. Once atop we were quick to pull from a crevice the stash of trinkets we kept hidden there. We had a pipe, …, and the most prized of all the dragons tooth. The tooth was given to Billaad by my father. He told us that he and Billaad’s father killed the beast in the Istranca Daglar. They ripped the tooth from its mouth and stuffed it in my dad’s pack. On the way back Baashard fell to his death in the tricky terrain. The rest of the party could not reach the body without risking more lives. So, they returned to the camp and presented Billaad with the trophy of his father’s bravery. Kimeril told us both regularly that: “We could not have crossed the pass safely if it were not for the bravery of Baashard in defeating the beast that guarded it.”

After we had admired our collection for the customary period of time, Billaad pulled from his blouse a small object wrapped in cloth. It was the boat Grandpa had widdled. Narrow and as long as my hand I held it close to my face for inspection. Tilting it this way and that while I slowly turned the object with my fingers, I spoke not a word. Billaad watched intently as I went over every aspect of its surface; visually and tactically.

It looked like a boot I guess; steep curves rising from the rib of its bottom, flat deck, cabin on deck and so forth. However; there were some curious deletions and conspicuous additions that caught my attention. There was no visible means of propulsion (ors; sails) and no system of navigation (wheel; rutters). Most curious was the large square hole in the bottom. It was two-thirds the width of the vessel and two-thirds the height with four small corner vents through the deck. “What is this hole for?” I asked my cousin. “How should I know.” He replied. “I thought maybe grandpa told you.” “He can’t talk to us, remember?” Billaad rebutted followed by some grunting noises meant to mock Tiras’s attempts to communicate. It was not so much as we made fun of him in this way; we were just venting our frustrations.

After a pause; “So, the Guslar said Noah put all the animals on a boat to protect them from the flood and Grandpa is trying to tell us this is what the boat looked like?” I tried to confirm with Billaad. “That’s what I got out of it.” He replied. “But that’s dumb; how is he supposed to fit two of all the animals there are on one boat; it does not make any sense!” I proclaimed. “Did you ask your dad about it?” “Yea, he said he was not sure one way or the other.” “What about Grip, now if there is a guy who can figure out how to fit all the animals on one boat, that’s the guy to do it.” Billaad stood as he finished his suggestion and tossed a stone out into the water.

“Holy crap!” Billaad burst out. “What is it!” I asked. “Look!” Billaad pointed out on the water at a large number of small boats. They were headed full sail toward the sunrise. We quickly ducked down flat on the stone so as not to be seen. We so young at the time were unaware of the fact that the distance between us and the boat was far too great as to let us be distinguished apart from the face stone by who ever was on the boats. We did not know what the boats were for nor who was on them. We did know they were not any kind of fishing boat we ever saw and they were in some hurry to get somewhere. “I wonder if it’s Gog?” That just blurted out of me. “Gog? Why would you think that? He has never bothered us before. Did you hear something? Is that what they were talking about at your house last night?” Billaad pressed. “What do you mean? What would I hear? I told you that I did not know what they talked of last night.” I evaded his question. I told my dad that I would not tell anyone about the track in the sand.

“Crill, this is the face-stone remember? We tell each other everything here. I am asking you plain: What did you find out about Gog?” Billaad pressed harder. He was right. I was obligated to tell him. Our pact was long running and deeply rooted between us. Did I really promise my dad that I would not tell anyone or did I just agree that was the best plan. Up there on that presapass I would plunge into deception or dishonor. Right there in the heat of the midday sun I would burn the ties of trust. I saw no way out of it.

“You have to swear not to tell anyone else.” “I swear.” “I mean it Billaad, not even your mom; nobody.” “Ok, ok, I swear, now what do you know already?” “Yesturday when I was out with my dad Grip and the elders we stumbled on some marks in the sand of the shore, that’s all.” Billaad scratched the back of his neck. “Alright. So! And?” He even held out his hand as to receive the full story. “well, the men decided the only possible source of these particular marks was Gog and his maraders.” I hung my head low as I finished my statement. I could just see the disappointment on my fathers face as a result of my breaking the agreement. “The Sythians are spying on us? Well are they?” Billaad pressed too hard now. “Look, that’s all I know. The men think so. I don’t know anything about what boats make what marks or who is spying on who. Leave me alone about it; just leave me alone! I told my dad I would not tell anyone and now look what I have done. It’s your fault you know. You and this stupid face-stone.”

Then I did it. The one thing a 12 [decide on age] year old boy can never do; cry in front of another kid around his age. But I could not help it. It stared kinda small and then the flood gates just opened. Billaad did not know what to do. He just made some scratches in the surface of the rock with the sharp edge of a brocken stone. He would look up at me every minute or so as I tried to get myself under control. Once I finally stopped, Billaad said, “I cry too sometimes Crill. Mostly at night when I am trying to fall asleep. I mean I never knew my dad but I miss him all the same. Why did he have to die before he ever got to know his son? It makes no sense. This great God the Guslar talked about and Grandpa almost chokes himself grunting about (he laughs a little), what is his problem? Why would he take my dad from me like that if he is supposed to love us and be protecting us? And, then I think of my mom and all her gibberish about the mother god earth. My dad’s energy is one with the energy of everything else? What the heck is that about? And I would like it if there was just one room in our longhouse without one of those stupid paintings of the woman and the animals. It’s animals in a boat or animals in a crotch; what a choice? Why can’t God just come down and spell it out for us?”

The boats were long gone over the horizon now. I had fully recovered and Billaad’s lament faded into more talk of the ark. We decided that more detail must be obtained. Our plan was to go directly to the Guslar. We would convince him to reveal specific points about the flood the ark, and how the heck it was built. We wanted to know why only so few people were on it. We wanted to know why more arks were not built or were they? But how to get him talking?